According to a report by CNet, a contract between Google and the University of Michigan to make millions of books searchable online contains no provisions for protecting the privacy of people who use the service.As I have previously noted, Google's privacy policy is rather confusing on the issue of what data the company stores about your searches and how it may cross-link that with any personal information it might have about you. Indeed, a recent interview with Google's VP of Engineering suggested he was more focused on whether law enforcement had adequate access to your private information.Google's blind spot on privacy issues is pretty well-known. But one expert was disappointed that U. of Mich. missed the boat too.
"I would have hoped that the University of Michigan would be sensitive to the fact that Google tracks everything that everyone searches," said Daniel Brandt, founder of the Google-watch.org Web site, which is highly critical of the search company's policies.
I've said it before and I'll say it again, Google will continue to step on its ... um, ... it's message, yeah that's it ... the company will continue to step on it's message of being a cool and customer-centric company until the day it finally gets somebody onboard to man the privacy watchtower.